 infobox country native_name kingdom of keoland common_name keoland image_coat coat_keoland gif image_map capital niole dra major_cities cryllor flen gradsul provinces more than two dozen major and many minor duchies counties marches territories and baronies resources foodstuffs cloth gold gems gems iii languages common keoish elven gnome halfling government_type elective constitutional monarchy leader_title king keoland king leader_name kimbertos i kimbertos skotti citizen keoish population 1 674 000 demographics human human sof gnome halfling halfling stout elf elf sylvan elf elf high half-elf dwarf other demographic_numbers 1 255 500 100 400 83 700 80 400 53 600 50 200 33 500 16 700 religions heironeous phaulkon st cuthbert fharlanghn ehlonna lydia osprem zilchus kord xerbo norebo olidammara elven pantheon elf pantheon trithereon alignment lg ng n ln cg platinum griffon gold lion electrum eagle silver hawk copper sparrow allies gran march sterich ulek the ulek states geoff bissel enemies pomarj iuz country iuz nonhumans and giants in crystalmists and elsewhere sea princes all factions celene greatly disliked valley of the mage distrusted footnotes culture although the keoish can be friendly and generous they are primarily noted for their superstitious natures and wariness of foreigners as certain prohibitions on magic have stood within the country most of its history preventing any but secret societies or certain nobles from learning its practice the people of keoland often fear those that wield magic many priesthoods can be found within the realm but religion has never been a dominant force either common is spoken here but the primary language is a dialect known as keolandish the speech of the common folk is easily recognizable due to the heavy accent most possess when speaking common the people are a mixture of suel and oeridian bloodlines well-blended in most parts of the nation excepting certain rarefied circles such as the nobility flan also exist in pockets throughout the kingdom geography the keoish lands have spanned from the azure coast in the south to the rushmoors in the north between the sheldomar river sheldomar and javan river rivers to the east and west for nearly a millenium these are some of the most provincial and bucolic lands in the flanaess largely untouched by war and conflict for centuries the climate is customarily temperate year-round and the soils of the central valleys are quite rich allowing the kingdom to grow wheat rye and other grains in abundance however it has never been rich in mineral wealth leading to a heavy trade with keoland keoland's neighbors for hard coin military the armies of keoland are well-known for their light cavalry employing the javelin to great skill along with the crossbow and lance the bulk of the army consists of footmen armed with long spears and pole arms while the nobility makes up the heavy cavalry there are typically small companies of elves dwarves gnomes and or halflings included in the muster keoland keoland's fleet it battleworthy but small fending off frequent incursions from the sea princes history according to legend considered apocryphal by the keoish government keoland keoland's origins lie back during the original suloise migrations following the rain of colorless fire slerotin the last mage of power led twelve tribes out of the ruin of the empire and into the sheldomar valley valley of the sheldomar the mage exahusted from the travel and on death death's door bid the most powerful noble houses of the suel to set aside their rivalries and unite to make a home in the valley and be at peace with its inhabitants he prophecied that they will one day combine with a noble people and together lay the foundations of an exalted kingdom slerotin enjoined them to look for signs and portents and act on them in the traditions of their ancestors the great magus then passed from this world in a thunderclap that levelled the surrounding trees and scattered them into the form of a glyph pointing toward the northeast recorded history tells us that despite the prophecy of slerotin it was only a few years after arrival in the valley that the refugees fought each other and divided the powerful house zelrad zelrad family head northeast and left the valley entirely settling in what later became south province house malhel fled toward the dreadwood and was consumed by its own evil trying to summon up powers of the earth to resurrect the suel imperium some families suffered similar fates while others left across the azure sea their fates still unknown the remaining suel families began to fight the local flan and nonhumans for control of the rest of the land dominated mostly by the empire of vecna in the north house rhola settled along the azure coast founding the city of gradsul in 287 or -368 cy while rhola settled the southern lands house neheli was the only one to heed the words of slerotin heading to the northeast of the sheldomar valley sheldomar under the advice of their seers the few powerful apprentices of slerotin to survive the cataclysm they founded the city of niole dra within 10 years of gradsul 's creation upheavel followed over the next years as internal strife caused the empire of vecna to collapse from within bringing a hoard of oeridians to immigrate into the valley from the north they were the first others to encounter the house neheli neheli and they settled within their lands peacefully keoland was officially founded in the year 303 or -342 cy in a peace between houses house neheli neheli and house rhola rhola and a few minor oeridian nobles who came to control large swaths of the central plains between the two originally a series of disjointed states lying between the rivers javan river javan and sheldomar river sheldomar they merged into a single kingdom following a series of brief struggles with the flan niole dra was declared the capital with a nobleman of house neheli taking the position of its first king within the next hundred years keoland had expanded beyond the good hills allied with the inhabitants there and began a period of rapid expansion characterized mainly by the annexation of new lands and territories sterich was soon founded in the west followed by the gran march in 484 or -161 cy the northern border was expanded beyond the city of shiboleth to hookhill with the new lands awarded to the knights of the watch as a fief from which to defend the kingdom kingdom's northern borders the yeomanry was incorporated into the kingdom in 549 or -96 cy its freeholders given a voice in council by niole dra by the middle of the first century cy the expansion of keoland came to a halt after the death of malv iii king malv iii of the house rhola rhola the throne reverted to house neheli where it remained for nearly two centuries marking a period of benevolent stagnation this ended with what is normally considered the start of the nation nation's imperial phase when the throne was given back to house rhola in 286 cy with the death of the last house neheli neheli king the new house rhola rhola king tavish i king tavish i reversed the path the country had been following raising armies in great numbers and accelerating castle-building across the frontiers of the country even further he abolished certain magical prohibitions that had stood for centuries amid strong opposition from the silent ones of the lonely tower keoland keoland's expansion once again resumed with the founding of thornward near the fals gap and a treaty incorporating the ulek states and bringing them into cooperation with keoland in the next five years keoish ambassadors left to as far as enstad and distant outposts were allowed even within the faerie court of celene tavish soon accomplsihed the near-total agglumation of the sheldomar valley from the crystalmists to the azure sea under a single rule - the throne of the lion his son tavish ii took the throne amid complaints by the council of niole dra following his death in 346 cy during the summer of 348 cy he made his so-called wealsun proclamation again over the objections of the council he asserted the manifest destiny of the keoish to a hegemony over the sheldomar valley sheldomar and all its borders within but a few years after he had marched troops into western veluna and annexed the pomarj from the prince of ulek although a series of early victories in veluna and verbobonc acted as encouragement among the nobles of keoland tavish ii 's attempt against ket caused much to crumble from beneath him after forcing the ill-prepared rulers of ket as far north as the tusman hills the yeomanry closed its borders to keoland in protest while celene expelled the royal garrisons from its borders within a few years the ket ketite expedition itself began to unravel marking the start of a slow retreat back to bissel by 400 cy keoland fortified their position at thornward declaring bissel the northen frontier of the nation although there was a brief halt in keoland keoland's aggression following tavish ii 's death by 414 cy his replacement luschan duke luschan had died himself and his nephew declared himself tavish iii he was quite unsuccessful in his goals however in 438 cy the small war between furyondy and keoland ended keoish influence in veluna and forced keoland out of bissel while in 433 cy the heir to the throne tavish iii 's younger brother and the duke of gradsul went missing in the amedio jungle amedio thought to be the victim of pirates or other foul play tavish iii was finally killed in 453 cy in an ill-fated expedition to reclaim the south culminating in the siege of westkeep in a prolonged battle against the insurgents he was slain and his son crowned tavish iv recognizing the effect the current course of the nation was having he recalled the disbanded expeditionary forces from the frontiers he declared the yeomanry league an independent realm in 460 cy and relations were reestablished not all diplomatic connections could be restored however; the states of ulek and celene severed all political ties with keoland in 461 the former gaining independence itself in the process two years later minor suel nobles within the pomarj swore fealty to the prince of ulek an act that went unchallenged by the war-weary monarch in 488 cy tavish iv died and the kingdom again reverted to house neheli who turned a blind eye to foreign affairs keoland once again became a much more complacent state; this continued on into all-out isolation when the country refused to engage in the hateful wars that coursed between the ulek states and the nonhumans of the lortmils and suss forest the barons of the pomarj suffered a crushing invasion their pleas going unheard by the bureaucracy of keoland the house neheli house of neheli was so besot by illness and misfortune after these events that it became doubtful it would be able to put forth an heir when trevlyan iii died in 564 cy the council of niole dra went into a prolonged debate that winter and made a surprising announcement when they finally emerged the new king was introduced as baron kimbertos i kimbertos skotti of grayhill an obscure ranger lord from a small province near the dreadwood he rose to the position of king and has continued the course of peace though encouraging a reversal of the nation nation's isolation of recent times provinces provinces provinces royal district and city of niole dra duchy of dorlin duchy of gradsul earldom of gand earldom of linth county of nimlee county of marlbridge county of flen county of cryllor good hills union march of mandismoor march of mareman march of sedenna march of middlemead march of blerfield barony of sayre barony of grayhill barony of westgate barony of riverwatch barony of axewood barony of mill creek barony of dilwych barony of raya viscounty of salinmoor viscounty of nume eor dreadwood preserve hool marsh protectorate protectoratesee also see also see also king keoland list of kings of keoland 